


Into the Darklands

by Leahelisabeth (fortheloveofcamelot)



Series: The World Beneath Our Feet [3]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic, Trollhunters - Daniel Kraus & Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Changelings, M/M, Self-Sacrifice, Turned to Stone, trollhunters au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-01-24 11:55:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21337831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofcamelot/pseuds/Leahelisabeth
Summary: “Oh fuck. Andrew!” Aaron shouted but it was already too late. Andrew’s face always looked as if it were carved from stone but now it actually was.  Andrew stood, arm raised, still sheltering a fallen Neil, and he had turned entirely to stone.Matt let out an incoherent yell of rage and ran forward.  He leapt onto the attacking troll, forcing it to the ground and breaking off its hand at the wrist so he held the dagger coated in Creeper Sun poison.  A quick slash later and their adversary was on the ground, also turned to stone.  Kevin smashed the fallen troll with his war hammer and it was pulverized to dust.Everyone stood frozen in the clearing, unsure of what had just happened. Everyone except Neil who still lay on the ground, far too still.Written for day 4 of Twinyards Appreciation Week: Aaron with Andrew's People.
Relationships: Neil Josten & Aaron Minyard, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: The World Beneath Our Feet [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1537252
Comments: 8
Kudos: 121
Collections: Twinyards Appreciation Week 2019





	1. Chapter 1

“Oh fuck. Andrew!” Aaron shouted but it was already too late. Andrew’s face always looked as if it were carved from stone but now it actually was. Andrew stood, arm raised, still sheltering a fallen Neil, and he had turned entirely to stone. 

Matt let out an incoherent yell of rage and ran forward. He leapt onto the attacking troll, forcing it to the ground and breaking off its hand at the wrist so he held the dagger coated in Creeper Sun poison. A quick slash later and their adversary was on the ground, also turned to stone. Kevin smashed the fallen troll with his war hammer and it was pulverized to dust.

Everyone stood frozen in the clearing, unsure of what had just happened. Everyone except Neil who still lay on the ground, far too still.

Their state of shock was broken when Neil groaned and stirred. He blinked and carefully pushed himself into a seated position, rubbing his eyes and trying to figure out what had just happened. His eyes widened when he saw Andrew. He shakily got to his feet and circled Andrew’s statue.

“You fucking idiot,” he cried, lashing out and ineffectually punching Andrew in the jaw. He shouted in pain and cradled his fist to his chest, nursing what was probably one or more broken knuckles. Then he collapsed to the ground.

Aaron didn’t know what to do in the face of Neil’s grief. He stepped forward, hand outstretched, but Neil shrunk away from him, wrapping one hand around Andrew’s calf, pressing his face to Andrew’s knee, and wailing.

Kevin stood there awkwardly. His war hammer was a simple racquet once more and he looked small, vulnerable in a way Aaron hadn’t seen before.

Matt knelt, trying to make his hulking form small and comforting. “Neil sad?” he asked.

Neil turned and buried his face in Matt’s mossy chest. Dan opened her mouth to say something but she closed it as soon as she realized she had absolutely nothing to say.

“Carry him home,” Matt said. “Need doorway.”

Neil nodded and stood, face pale and tear-streaked. He lifted his staff. It took a moment but he opened a portal into the Heartstone chamber and they all stepped through, Matt bringing up the rear with Andrew’s statue.

“What took you so long?” Wymack asked, coming toward them with his staff. He stopped short when he saw Andrew. “Dan, I thought you were going to protect him.”

“It’s my fault,” Neil said, swaying to stand up on his own. Kevin rushed to his side to prop him up. “I let the troll flank me and Andrew had to step in and stop it. He took the blade meant for me.”

“It’s not your fault,” Aaron interrupted.

Neil turned to him, face twisted with rage. “You shouldn’t even be here. What have you ever done for him besides divide his focus and get in the way?”

Aaron knew they would hate him for the words he was about to say but he couldn’t keep them a secret. “Andrew was already dying,” he said. “He was poisoned weeks ago and couldn’t bear to tell you.”

Neil flew toward him and Aaron was fully prepared to be obliterated but Matt caught Neil in mid air. “Andrew brave,” he said. “Would have done same.”

Aaron opened his mouth to speak again. He wasn’t sure what he could say but maybe if he just started talking it would come to him. He was interrupted by the sound of his name in an unfamiliar voice. “What? Who said that?” he asked. 

Everyone glared at him but there was a tug in his chest, pulling him toward Andrew’s statue. The amulet on Andrew’s chest glowed. Aaron put his hand out, unable to do anything else. It flared when he touched it. Everyone in the room gasped as the amulet came free in his hand. 

A sick dread flooded him but he had to know. “For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command,” he whispered. Light surrounded him and he felt himself lifted off his feet as armour surrounded him and a sword appeared in his hand. Aaron closed his eyes and finally let himself cry. This was the last thing he wanted.

* * *

Aaron was tired. It had been a long two weeks. He still hadn’t figured out how to tell Bee that one of her adopted sons was now a statue so he was pulling double duty at home, doing Andrew’s chores as well as his own and impersonating his brother when Bee got suspicious that she hadn’t seen him in a while. Neil wore a glamour mask on the few occasions where both Aaron and Andrew had to be in the same place at the same time but Aaron hated to drag him away from his research.

He was also jumping full speed ahead into Trollhunter training. Dan was merciless, trying to get him up to Andrew’s level as quickly as possible so the Trolls outside their inner circle didn’t realize what happened to Andrew. She and Matt had completely different reactions to Andrew’s petrification. Dan threw herself into her work and didn’t let anyone catch her having emotions while Matt regularly gathered Aaron, Kevin, and Neil up in his arms for long, mandatory cuddle sessions. Once Matt decided to cuddle, there was no escape. Sometimes he could be distracted with Go-Go Sushi but he was a big guy with a big grief.

And of course, every spare moment not spent fighting, training, or pretending to be two people to deceive the woman who had rescued Andrew and Aaron from the foster system and all the horrible things that entailed, was spent researching a way to reverse the effects of Creeper Sun poison. And while Aaron might have been keeping up with the first three, he was making absolutely no progress on the fourth.

Aaron flopped over onto his bed, relishing the softness. Dan had seen how worn out he looked and had promised not to bother him for anything but the most pressing emergencies. He was almost asleep when he heard a pop and the air thinned in a way that could only mean Neil had made a portal directly into his bedroom.

“Seriously?” Aaron griped, rolling over to glare at Neil. “Can you come back in a minimum of eight hours?”

“Well sure. I’ll tell you how to reverse Andrew’s poisoning tomorrow then,” Neil said snappishly and formed another portal.

“Wait!” Aaron shouted, jumping out of bed so quickly he took the covers with him and almost fell when they tangled around his feet.

Neil lowered his staff and turned to face Aaron. He looked as bad as Aaron felt. “I found a cure.”

“Where?” Aaron asked suspiciously.

Neil looked cagey as fuck. “Does it matter?” he asked. “We finally have something constructive to do instead of sit around with our thumbs up our asses while you play Trollhunter.”

“Hey, I don’t want to be doing this either,” Aaron snarled.

Neil hunched over, exhaustion overwriting every feature. “Do you want to hear what I found, or not?”

“Of course I do,” Aaron said, suddenly too overwhelmed with exhaustion to fight.

Neil pulled a single sheet of looseleaf paper out of his wallet. “It’s a potion. If we pour it over him, it will reverse the effects.”

Aaron carefully took the paper from Neil and scanned the ingredients. “What the fuck?” he asked. “A live mouse? A gnome skeleton? What the fuck does it mean by tears of unfulfilled love?”

“Those are all doable. It’s the last one that worries me,” Neil said.

Aaron looked back at the list. “Nightblood flower? I’ve never heard of it.”

“That’s because it only grows in one place: the Darklands,” Neil said.

Aaron felt rage rising up in him like a tidal wave. “What the fuck? I thought you said you have a cure. This flower might as well grow on the moon for all that we’re going to be able to get it.”

“Well that’s the thing,” Neil said, “before Andrew...you know, we were trying to track Riko’s movements, figure out his plan. His older brother, Ichirou, is trapped in the Darklands and honestly, he makes Riko look like a harmless gnome. Riko’s trying to free his brother and he’s been gathering pieces of Evermore Bridge. It used to stand as a connection point between the Darklands and our world. If he puts it back together, he can open the door between worlds and let Ichirou out.”

“And you want to what...use this gate to cross into the Darklands and risk letting this Ichirou out to wreak havoc on the world? Sounds like a great idea,” Aaron sneered.

“Well, forgive me for thinking you actually cared about your brother and wanted to get him back.” Neil glared, snatched the paper back from Aaron, and raised his staff to open a portal.

“Wait,” Aaron said softly. “Why did you even come to me? Why haven’t you just gone in by yourself to find this flower? Why involve me at all.”

Neil turned back. “Andrew’s amulet. Merlin sealed the gate and only the power of Merlin can open it. And since Andrew is stone and for some reason you can wield his power, it has to be you.”

“I have to go alone?” Aaron gasped.

“No, you can take me along with you. But you do have to pass through the gate yourself to let me through,” Neil sighed. “Look, I don’t like you anymore than you like me. But I would do anything, everything to bring Andrew back.”

Aaron nodded. “Fine, let’s go.” He picked up the amulet and activated it.

“I thought you wanted to sleep first,” Neil teased.

“Like I’m going to sleep now,” Aaron replied.

* * *

Actually getting into the Darklands was somewhat anticlimactic. They waited until Riko was busy elsewhere and Aaron activated the gate by proximity. The Darklands were basically what Aaron had expected, giant caves of bare rock with the occasional glowing rock to light their way. Thankfully it wasn’t pitch black. The other end of the gateway opened on some sort of stone bridge that soared high above the ground below. It was dizzying.

Aaron turned to Neil and nearly jumped out of his skin. He managed to keep from screaming but it was a near thing. Neil had grown perhaps a foot taller. Instead of red curls, his head was covered with green moss and two curving horns sprouted from his forehead. His teeth were wickedly sharp and his eyes were slitted and glowed like a cat’s.

“Oh,” Neil said, looking down at himself. “I wondered if this was a possibility.”

Aaron drew his sword and held it, arm unwavering, tip held at Neil’s throat. “What is this? Is it a trap? Are you a double agent?”

“Shit, now is not a good time to have this conversation,” Neil said. “We need to get out of the open.”

“Fuck no, I am not going anywhere with you. You’re a...you’re a Troll,” Aaron stuttered.

“Half Troll actually,” Neil said. He grabbed Aaron’s arm and dragged him over the bridge and toward some kind of burrow in the cave wall.

Aaron dug his heels in but Neil didn’t even notice. He was tempted to use the sword and run but he was in no hurry to lose his only possible ally in this place.

Neill shoved Aaron in first and looked around carefully before ducking in after. “Well, I'm really more like a half Changeling. My father was a full Changeling and he married my mother. Changelings and humans aren’t supposed to be able to have children but he found a strange stone on his travels and the magic enabled her to conceive and tada!” Neil half-heartedly made jazz hands in the dim light.

“That is fucked up,” Aaron said. “Did Andrew know?”

“Of course Andrew knows. I don’t keep secrets from him,” Neil said. “He trusts me. You should too. Working together is the best chance we have at getting Andrew back.”

Aaron didn’t want to, but he knew Neil was right. “How do we find the flower?” he asked.

Neil pulled out yet another piece of lined paper, this one containing a crude drawing. “I have a map.”

“From your still unnamed source?” Aaron asked.

Neil nodded and bent over the map. “We’ll need to blend in as much as possible. I hate to say it but you probably want to put your armor away.”

“And leave myself unguarded?” Aaron asked.

“I’ll protect you,” Neil said. “Trust me.”

Surprisingly, Aaron realized he did, even in spite of his misgivings. He took a deep breath and released the armor, leaving himself dressed in plain black. He felt completely and utterly vulnerable. “Can’t you just make a portal and take us right to the flower?” he asked.

“Sorry, the magic doesn’t work down here. The rules are a little different in the Darklands,” Neil said. “I didn’t even bring it with me.”

Neil popped his head out of the cave and looked around. After a moment, he gestured for Aaron to follow him and he started on a quick pace. Aaron had to jog to keep up.

Aaron really regretted not having a good night’s sleep before setting out. He was already flagging. His mouth felt dryer than bone dust and a quickly evolving migraine pulsed behind his right eye. Neil didn’t slow but he did hand Aaron a water bottle from his pack.

The relief was short lived. This place, this giant yet claustrophobic place sucked the very life from him. He couldn’t imagine being imprisoned here for a day, much less eternity.

Eventually Neil stopped. “I think...yeah, if you look straight up here, you can just see it.”

Aaron peered upward at the rock face. Neil must have better night vision because after about twenty feet, the wall dissipated into darkness and Aaron could not spot a single living thing.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Aaron said bitterly before taking another deep swallow from the water bottle.

Neil shrugged and set his hands to the wall, quickly climbing up and disappearing into the gloom. Aaron turned his back to the wall and peered out, making sure no one was coming. He could hear nothing in the emptiness except the occasional scuffle above him when Neil’s stealth failed him.

Eventually those sounds grew louder again and Aaron could tell Neil was coming back down. Finally he was standing on solid ground again and triumphantly holding a flower. It looked somewhat like a morning glory but it was black as night.

“Can we go now?” Aaron asked.

Neil wrapped it up and stowed it carefully in his pack. “Ready when you are.”

The trip back was just as quiet. Aaron couldn’t believe their luck. They hadn’t seen a single living creature the whole time they had been in the Darklands. He could see the gate now. They were going to come out of this unscathed. He reined his thoughts in, knowing he was tempting fate, but it was already too late. 

A voice echoed strangely across the bare, black plain. “Nathaniel.”

Neil’s eyes went wide. He shed his pack and shoved it into Aaron’s arns. “Run,” he whispered hoarsely.

“What? No! I’m not leaving you,” Aaron protested. “For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command.” The armor appeared and Aaron held up his sword, ready to fight alongside Neil.

“You have to save Andrew. Nothing matters if you don’t bring him back to life. I’ll hold them off.” Neil smiled bravely and pulled two long knives from somewhere on his person.

“Neil,” Aaron tried one more time but he could see swiftly moving shapes in the darkness and Neil had a stubborn look on his face that was so much like his brother’s that his heart ached to see it.

“Go, Aaron,” Neil said. “Tell Andrew…” but his voice was lost to the groaning of rock and the shouting of Trolls as they came closer.

Aaron turned and sprinted for the gate. He didn’t turn to look, knowing he couldn’t let Neil’s sacrifice be in vain.

“The Trollhunter is getting away!” A harsh voice sounded behind him and Aaron put on an extra burst of speed, even though his legs felt like jello.

He sprinted through the gate, knowing that whoever was following him might be close enough to come through with him. He didn’t stop until the light went dark behind him and he whirled around to see if anything else had made it through.

He wasn’t alone in the room. A towering Riko appeared from the shadows, craggy mouth stretched in an unnatural smile, giant sword carried over one imposing shoulder, voice like breaking stone. “You are going to tell me how you did that.”


	2. Chapter 2

Looking back, Aaron could never recall exactly what happened next. The pent up rage from weeks of filling in for Andrew and never knowing if he would ever get his brother back combined with the helplessness of leaving Neil behind exploded in a wordless yell and he charged at Riko’s head with his sword before him.

Riko, even though he was five times the size of Aaron, was immediately on the defensive. Aaron was a wild thing and he slashed at Riko’s head without a care for his own safety, sending the giant troll scrambling backward. There was no thought in Aaron’s head beyond getting to Andrew so he didn’t chase after, instead putting on a great burst of speed and darting out into the sunlight where Riko couldn’t follow.

The taste of copper pennies filled his mouth and every gasping breath burned his lungs but he did not slow. Before him was a brother, frozen in stone, behind him, a friend who may already be dead. Aaron kept running.

It took forever but also seemed like no time at all before he was standing in front of Andrew’s statue, panting and ready to fall down. Matt was there, in the Hero’s Forge, running through the obstacle course. He looked tired.

“Aaron? What wrong?” Matt stopped and came over to look at him, a look of concern on his craggy face.

Wymack entered the room then. “What’s going on? I’ve been receiving complaints that the Trollhunter tore through here like a crazy person.”

Aaron was still having trouble getting his breath back. He pulled the Nightblood flower from where it had been squashed in Neil’s pack and held it out to Wymack.

Wymack’s brow furrowed, not sure what he was looking at. “Is that?...” He then bounded forward and snatched it away from Aaron. “These only grow in the darklands. What did you do?”

“Neil…” Aaron started but he didn’t know how to continue.

“Where Neil?” Matt asked, grinning wide and sniffing around Aaron as if he’d got the other man in his pocket.

Wymack’s brows drew down and anger filled his face. “I told Neil it was too risky. He said he was going to keep looking for another way.”

Aaron shrugged, still too winded to contribute much to the conversation.

“Where is he? Is he hurt?” Wymack asked.

“He...they caught him. I had to run,” Aaron admitted. “I’m sorry. He wanted to make sure this flower got back to Andrew.”

“Damn it,” Wymack turned and punched the wall. It cracked and a few slivers rained down on the floor. “Fucking self-sacrificing shit head. I knew he would get himself killed like this.”

“Can we…” Aaron’s voice faltered as Wymack glared at him. “Can we cure Andrew now?”

The fight went out of Wymack then and he slumped. “Yeah kid, let’s wake up your brother. We’re not going to let Neil’s sacrifice be in vain. Matt, go fetch Dan and Renee. Between the two of them, they’ll have most of the ingredients. Aaron, text Kevin. He’ll probably want to be here for this too.”

Aaron nodded and pulled out his phone. After that was done, he slumped to the floor, his back to the rock wall. He drifted then, letting the exhaustion drag him down, not to sleep but into a haze. When he finally started to pay attention to his surroundings again, the room was full.

Renee and Dan were standing over a huge cauldron and dropping things into it. Matt stood off to the side, hugging himself and rocking from foot to foot, trying to stay out of the way. Kevin was walking around and making a general nuisance of himself, questioning every move the girls made and trying to tell them how to do it better. Allison was also there, although Aaron wasn’t sure who would have invited her. Her face was dark and forbidding and he didn’t bother going over to speak to her.

Gradually he realized that everyone had stopped moving and was looking at him. “What?” he croaked.

“We need the last ingredient,” Renee said gently.

“I already gave Wymack the flower,” Aaron said, confused.

“Not that,” Dan said. “The tears of unfulfilled love. We all know you’ve been pining over your study partner. Come up here and cry into the cauldron.”

“You...you know about that?” Aaron asked.

“Was it a secret?” Renee asked, brow furrowed.

Aaron sighed and came over to the cauldron. “Now what?”

“Cry, Aaron,” Dan said. 

“I can’t just cry on command,” Aaron protested. “I have to be sad or in pain.”

Dan shrugged, reached out, and flicked him on the side of the nose with one stone finger. Pain exploded in his face and tears immediately welled up in his eyes.

“Fuck, I think you broke my nose,” Aaron shouted.

“It’s okay, Renee will fix it. Stick your head over the cauldron so we don’t waste the tears,” Dan said, completely unconcerned.

Aaron did as directed and hovered his face over the foul smelling liquid in the cauldron. As soon as his tears touched it, it stopped steaming and went from a vivid green to a dark blue. “Is that it?” he asked as he backed away.

“I’m not sure,” Renee said. “I’ve never tried to perform this spell before.”

“I think Neil said we needed to pour it…” Aaron said.

“We’ll try that next,” Renee said softly.

They stood watching it for what felt like an eternity. A great cloud of smoke suddenly boiled up over the edge of the cauldron and spilled over the edge. It floated toward Andrew and rushed over his statue, completely hiding it from view. A moment later, it dissipated as if it had never existed. The cauldron was completely empty and Andrew seemed unchanged.

A different kind of tears started filling Aaron’s eyes then. After all that he’d just done, his brother was still stone.

“I’m sorry,” Renee started, but she was interrupted by the sound of cracking stone. Veins of light spread across Andrew skin, starting at his feet and spreading up his body until they reached the top of his head. A bright light flashed and Aaron turned away, unable to look at it. When he turned back, his brother was there, in the flesh, sagging down to the ground.

Kevin was the first person to Andrew’s side, propping him up, one of the few people Andrew would allow close to him. Andrew was shaking, barely able to move after so long as a statue.

“Andrew?” Aaron asked, voice shaking.

Andrew opened drowsy hazel eyes to look at his brother. “I’m good,” he said. He lazily looked around, his mouth softening as he saw everyone’s concerned faces surrounding him. Suddenly his body stiffened and he shoved Kevin away. “Where is Neil?”

* * *

Andrew was gearing up for war. He had reclaimed his amulet and the armor clung to him once more like he was born to wear it. Aaron felt naked without it. As much as he had dreamed about this moment, handing the mantle back, letting go of the responsibility, and letting Andrew take over, he felt somehow empty and purposeless. If he followed Andrew into the darklands, he would be defenseless, a liability.

“You, other Minyard,” Allison beckoned him over to her. “Follow me.”

Aaron was wary of Allison. She wasn’t one of the trolls he had really had a chance to work with. She wasn’t one of those to actively be involved in battle. He thought she did something to do with clothing. But he had nothing to contribute to Andrew’s strategy session and he was just a little afraid of what Allison might do to him if he didn’t listen.

She led him to a small cave he’d passed by but never entered. The closer he got to the door, the more heat rolled out of it and blasted him in the face. As he entered, he realized he was standing in a small forge. One wall was covered in delicate pieces of jewellery, precious metals and polished gemstones paired in delicate creations that seemed incongruous with Allison’s giant size and clumsy-looking fingers. Exquisitely shaped swords filled another wall. Still another was covered with various pieces of troll armor, again, beautifully shaped and crafted. The final wall held a furnace and a bellows. An anvil was set up in the center and tools filled every other available space.

“You made these?” Aaron asked, mouth open in wonder.

“What, you didn’t think I just stood around and looked pretty?” Allison asked.

“I…” Aaron had no idea how to answer that so he just kept his mouth shut.

From one of the corners, Allison pulled a suit of armor. It was significantly smaller than the other pieces on the wall. It was human sized...well actually, it was Minyard sized.

“I knew when we got Andrew back, you might find it difficult to go back to being what you were. This armor isn’t magical, not like Merlin’s. And this sword does not command the power of daylight. But it’s sharp and durable and it will keep you safe,” Allison said softly, holding the pieces out for Aaron to see.

“Allison, I don’t know what to say,” Aaron said. 

“Then don’t say anything. Put it on and go join your brother. Don’t let them leave without me.”

The new armor was a little heavier than what he was used to, but it fit well and didn’t impede his movement. He would still be able to fight. 

Allison was at the anvil when he left, molten metal taking shape under her hammer. She didn’t even notice him go.

Allison rejoined them as they prepared to leave, a huge curving sword slung over her shoulder, the blade probably twice the size of Aaron himself.

Renee’s eyes were like pits of black flame. She chanted and walked around their group, a bowl in her hands overflowing with sweet-smelling smoke. “This will keep you hidden for a while,” she said once her eyes had gone back to normal. Try not to make too much noise. It will keep the Ichirou’s trolls from noticing you but if you make too much noise or start becoming a nuisance, they will fight. Try to get as close as you can before using your weapons. Dan and I will hold the entrance in case anyone tries to cross through.”

Aaron looked at his brother but Andrew was focussed on the bridge. Nothing was going to stop him from going in and bringing Neil back.

No one was waiting for them on the other side of the gate. So far, their entrance into the darklands had gone unnoticed.

“Where to?” Andrew asked Aaron.

Aaron looked around. It barely looked familiar and he had no idea where they might have taken Neil. “I...I don’t…”

“Renee gave me this,” Kevin announced, holding up a smooth black stone. “It glows warm when we’re heading toward Neil.”

Andrew nodded without another word and let Kevin take the lead. Aaron followed close behind them and Matt and Allison brought up the rear, making sure no one snuck up behind them.

Aaron nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw the first trolls. There were three of them. Two big and burly like Matt and another small and cunning with four eyes and four arms like Dan. They weren’t doing anything, just standing around, weapons laid down and not even immediately accessible. One of the big ones was draining the last bit of a liquid from a murky green glass bottle. He belched and threw it at the cave wall, laughing uproariously when his companions jumped.

Andrew raised his sword as if to engage but Kevin said something, so quietly only Andrew could hear and he stood down and crept past without disturbing them.

Tension crept up Aaron’s neck as troll sightings grew more frequent. Every second, he nervously waited for whatever spell Renee had cast to wear off and for someone to realize they weren’t meant to be there.

Finally, they heard the sound of chisel on rock and raised voices.

“You shouldn’t be surprised, Nathaniel.” One voice was clearer than the others. It was oily and cloying and Aaron wanted to run away and never meet the owner of such a voice. “There was a reason your mother took you and ran. She was determined you would never be my successor, and now that you’ve lived on the outside,she’s ensured that you’re far too soft to ever take up my mantle.”

Another clang sounded and a choked off scream was torn from an unwilling throat.

Andrew raised his sword to charge in but Kevin and Aaron held him back. 

“We need to get closer, see what we’re up against before we blunder in,” Aaron whispered fiercely.

“Neil,” Andrew whispered back. “They’re hurting him.”

“Now Neil, the time has come and gone for you to speak. Tell me how you crossed over from the world of men into the darklands or I will finish what I started and sever your legs below the knee,” the voice continued.

“I’m not going to tell you anything,” Neil’s voice rang out, tired and full of pain, but still defiant.

“That’s it,” Andrew said. “I’m not waiting.” He shook off Kevin and Aaron like they were flies and he ran forward into the clearing. There was nothing to do but to follow him.

There were five big trolls, standing silent guard around a violent tableau. Neil lay on the ground, chips and cracks gashed in every limb, hardly a single part of him seemed whole. It looked like someone had taken a small chisel to his face, carving out lines and whorls in his cheeks. Over him stood another troll, tall and slender, with the same horns and facial features as Neil.

Andrew growled and it reverberated off the rock around them.

Neil dragged his head up to look at them. Relief and fear warred for dominance on his face. “Aaron, I told you to leave me,” he gasped.

“Like I could have talked Andrew into that,” Aaron replied, before one of the sentry trolls lunged at him and he became too out of breath to speak.

Matt and Allison took on two trolls each, leaving one for Aaron to fend off. Andrew was single minded in his focus as he stalked toward the troll standing over Neil.

Aaron tried to keep his brother in sight but his own battle took precedence and without the daylight of Merlin’s sword, he had to rely on brute strength to fight the monster. Allison’s sword was strong. It bit into stone like an axe to a tree and, slowly but surely, Aaron felled the beast before him.

Matt and Allison finished up their battles too and all that was left was for Andrew to shout once more in rage and slice the head of Neil’s father clean off his shoulders.

They stood there, trembling as the adrenaline left them, and Andrew dropped to his knees at Neil’s side.

“Look what they’ve done to you,” Andrew said, not even bothering to hide the emotion in his voice.

“I’m fine,” Neil said.

“You’re fucking not fine,” Andrew growled. “You should have let me stay a statue.”

“No,” Neil said, voice strong and sure. “It wouldn’t have mattered if I died here, it was worth it to me that you would have a chance to live.”

Only Aaron was close enough to hear what Andrew said next.

“It wouldn’t have been living.”

Aaron’s face went red and he took a few steps back. It was like seeing his brother naked. Tenderness was foreign to his experience with his twin but Andrew wasn’t even trying to hide it.

“Matt.” Andrew’s voice broke on the word. “I need you to carry him.”

“I can walk,” Neil said, trying to push himself up. Andrew easily held him down.

“You’re...you’re in pieces, Neil. You need help,” Andrew whispered.

Matt came forward and cradled Neil in his arms. “Neil, safe,” he said, pressing his forehead to Neil’s.

“Yeah, buddy,” Neil said. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

“Neil, friend,” Matt insisted.

Aaron looked around. There were a few triangle shaped slivers of rocks and he nearly vomited when he realized they were sections cut from Neil’s limbs and torso. He picked one of them up and held it out. “Should we bring these with us?”

Andrew shrugged helplessly, overwhelmed by everything that was going on.

“Yes,” Allison said, stepping forward. “Bring as many as you can carry.”

Aaron nodded and he and Kevin stuffed their packs full.

“Someone coming,” Matt said, head cocking as he listened. “Go now. Fast.”

Aaron nodded and they moved out at a quicker pace than they had entered.

Renee’s spell must have worn off because they didn’t make it back before shouts started following them. They ran. Aaron’s stomach dropped. This felt far too familiar. Trolls were gaining on them.

It was almost exactly the same spot where Neil had left him that Andrew whirled around to face the horde behind them. “Go!” he shouted. “I’ll hold them off.”

“Fucking hell,” Aaron said. “You are not pulling this shit. We’re all making it out this time.” He reached for Andrew’s arm. Andrew wildly threw him off and tried to run back toward the trolls. 

Allison turned and took one giant step back and threw Andrew over her shoulder in one fluid movement. “I’m not doing this again.”

Andrew fought but he could not break Allison’s grip without using his sword.

Aaron kept running, but the pit in his stomach told him that none of them were going to make it out.

A cloud of black smoke surrounded them and chanting filled the air. Dan and Renee ran toward them at full tilt, Renee casting spells and Dan cracking a whip that shone like daylight.

“Keep running,” Dan shouted. “We’re here to cover your retreat.” She cracked the whip. It made a sound like thunder and the nearest of their pursuers whimpered and fell.

Aaron once again fell into a trance, one foot in front of the other. The gate was approaching. No troll blade had yet knocked him off his feet.

They all made it through and stood panting, Evermore Bridge once again sealed behind them.

Neil cried out in agony and Renee rushed toward him. “Neil, I know it hurts but I need you to remain in your changeling form as long as you can. I can’t help you if you change back. Do you have the strength to open a portal home?”

Neil groaned and gritted his teeth, his troll form wavering, and blood leaking from his legs. Renee put his staff in his hand and somehow, Neil managed to get them back to Trollmarket.

They didn’t go to Renee’s home, with her herbs and medicines. Aaron was surprised as they once again returned to Allison’s forge. They cleared off Allison’s workbench and laid Neil down.

“Aaron and Kevin have the pieces,” Allison nodded to them before going to the bellows and stoking the fire into a roaring flame. She strode to the wall and took down several of the larger pieces of gold jewellery, tearing off the stones and tossing them away without a care for their value. She dropped the metal into the crucible and shoved it into the hottest part of the fire. 

Renee gestured impatiently for his pack. Aaron handed it over and Renee dumped it out next to Neil before beginning the painstaking job of finding where each piece fit.

“What can I do?” Aaron asked. “I want to help.”

“Take your brother home,” Renee said. “There is nothing more you can do here.”

Aaron wanted to argue but the three humans were in the way. Matt had taken over on the bellows. Allison was walking back and forth between helping Renee and keeping an eye on the metal, and the cave was quickly becoming suffocatingly hot.

“No,” Andrew fought to stay on his feet, two weeks as a statue and several hours of pure fear finally hitting him all at once.. “I have to stay with him.”

“We have this,” Renee said gently. “You need to stand down.”

“She’s right,” Aaron said. “Neil will need us later. We need to be ready for that.”

The fight went out of Andrew and he followed silently.

The walk home took forever. Andrew was barely on his feet and Aaron didn’t really have the strength to support him. They managed to get in and up to Andrew’s room without alerting Bee.

Andrew collapsed into his bed for the first time in weeks and Aaron turned to leave and let him sleep.

“Stay,” Andrew murmured. 

Aaron was sure he had heard wrong but he could see a hint of red at the tip of Andrew’s ears after he buried his face in his pillow.

Aaron stripped off his armor and kicked it into Andrew’s closet, shutting the door, and he dropped into bed beside Andrew. He didn’t remember falling asleep.

* * *

Once again, Aaron was woken by the sound of a pop and a drop in air pressure in the middle of the room. He and Andrew both shot upright as Neil appeared in the middle of the room. He looked tired and he was moving slowly.

Aaron reached out and turned on the lamp at the head of Andrew’s bed.

Neil’s face was a mess of scars. Aaron supposed the rest of his body must be a patchwork quilt by now, with all the fragments that had to be put back into place.

Andrew scrambled over Aaron in his rush to get to Neil. He pulled him close, one hand clasped tight around the back of Neil’s neck, and they stood there, eyes closed, unable to let go after so long apart.

Aaron tried to get up and sneak past them but Neil looked over at him with a keen eye.

“You did well, Trollhunter,” Neil said, extending his hand for Aaron to shake.

Aaron didn’t know how to respond so his mouth took over for his brain. “I can’t believe they managed to put you back together.”

Neil laughed and shifted into his changeling form. Aaron and Andrew could do nothing but stare. Every white scar on Neil’s human form was still there in this form, but each one was delicately traced in a thread of pure gold, the precious metal holding all the broken pieces together in one glorious whole.

Andrew reached out his hand toward Neil’s cheek but paused to wait for his permission to touch. Neil nodded his head slightly and Andrew delicately traced the vein of gold with one finger.

Neil raised his hand to Andrew’s head and threaded his fingers through blond hair. They pulled each other closer.

This time, Aaron managed to make it out of the room without being stopped. It was still early. The sun had yet to rise and Aaron fully intended to go back to bed for his longest stretch of uninterrupted sleep since Andrew had first turned to stone. He should probably text Katelyn in the morning.


End file.
